Do Big Banks Hire More Than They Fire?

A look at the track records of Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and more.

It's no secret that Citigroup (NYSE:C) has a workforce problem this holiday season. The company may not be planning to lay off as many people as Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) did last year, but if the reports are accurate, the firm is not in hiring mode either.

Or is it?

In North America alone, Citigroup is looking to fill 2,164 positions. Worldwide the company plans to add more than 3,200 people to its payroll.

Meanwhile, StreetID learned that in the worst-case scenario, Citigroup has eliminated or will eliminate as many as 2,000 jobs. If that report is accurate, the company will still increase its workforce by 1,200 employees.

Capital One (NYSE:COF) recently cut 217 jobs from a call center in Tigard, Oregon, and another 80 jobs in Bethesda, Maryland. Nationwide, however, the company is attempting to fill more than 1,100 salaried positions. Capital One is also hiring 577 hourly workers.

US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), which laid off at least 100 people in 2011, is hiring more than 1,700 financial professionals in America.

Flagstar Bank has not had a major layoff since 2010 (at which time the company eliminated 50 employees in Jackson, Michigan). The company is currently seeking nearly 200 new hires.

In January, PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) announced its plans to axe more than 600 RBC Bank (TSE:RY) employees in North Carolina after the firm was acquired by PNC. That number was reportedly reduced by more than 100 employees. Now the firm has more than 2,000 job openings for financial professionals seeking full- or part-time work.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) eliminated 70-some jobs in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2012 and 1,300 jobs in 2011. This year the company is actively seeking more than 3,900 full-time and part-time employees in the United States and Canada. Many of these positions are lower-level opportunities at various Chase bank branches. But more than 200 of them are in accounting, 80 are in marketing, 100 are in product and project management, 110 are in compliance, 24 are in investment banking, 51 are in real estate finance, 117 are in asset management, 12 are in human resources, and another 12 are on the corporate staff. These are just some of the job categories available at JPMorgan Chase.

Not all banks are experiencing a job surplus, however. Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) is currently hiring 150 new employees -- roughly half of the 315 positions already eliminated.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) announced in 2011 that it will cut its staff by 3,500 individuals. The company might eliminate another 10,000 jobs by the end of 2015. But it is only hiring 570 individuals. (Considering the massive job cuts this firm is experiencing, that number is practically a miracle.)

In June, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) removed 50 people from the company, including several well-paid managing directors. Right now the financial enterprise is hiring hundreds of financial professionals all over the world. In North America, Goldman Sachs hopes to add 305 people to various divisions within the firm. In Asia Pacific, another 60 jobs are being added, along with an additional 67 jobs in Europe. The company is also looking for 23 new team members in India and 11 in Japan.

All told, Goldman Sachs will hire 466 people. This greatly surpasses the number of people that were eliminated last summer. But it is well below the 3,000 jobs that Goldman Sachs eliminated in 2011.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) is in a similar position. The company is currently searching for 500 talented individuals worldwide. Unfortunately, Credit Suisse already eliminated more than 500 jobs this year, all of which were in New York. The company plans to eliminate 3,500 positions globally by the end of 2013.